


Missing the Mark

by lasairfhiona



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint never misses his mark, until he does and then he realises he might have missed more than the mark.</p><p>thanks to sharpiesgal for the beta read</p><p>avengers_tables<br/>Clint Barton/Hawkeye table<br/>prompt: missing mark</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing the Mark

He never missed. Not anymore. Not since he was like ten. Probably even earlier but he always said ten for good measure. Every bullet, every arrow, every knife landed exactly where he intended it to land. It had too; he was beaten if they didn't. When there was no failure to punish him for, his father beat him just because. 

The fact he never missed also subjected him to jealousy from others; his father, his brother, Trickshot. The abuse he suffered at their hands only made him more determined to be the best. 

After Barney tried to kill him, he left the circus. Made a name for himself at the shooting competitions and in other circles not spoken of face to face for plausible deniability of the knowledge of the justice he meted for those the system failed. His first kill turned out to be his brother. He returned the fee.

He crossed paths with SHIELD when he beat them to a mark. Phil Coulson recruited him, trained him to be an agent and was the first person he trusted. Ever.

And he still never missed his mark. Except once and it was only a miss in the eyes of SHIELD. He didn't miss because he never aimed at her. He saw something in her eyes that day and with a note attached to an arrow he 'missed' his target. He never regretted missing that day because Natasha became the second person he trusted.

*&*

Clint sat on the roof and lined up the shot, his arrow nocked and ready. Everything was dependent on his ability to hit his mark. The rest of the Avengers waited in the wings in case everything went to hell in a hand basket. When the voice in his ear told him it was time, he let the arrow fly, hitting its mark even if it is just a little off center. He shrugs it off and blames it on the wind or the mark moving. 

And everything does go to hell in a hand basket. Instead of running when the arrow took out their boss, they rallied around their dead leader.

So instead of firing one arrow and leaving, he sat on that roof and continued to fire. He tried not to dwell on the fact his aim hadn't improved. It was still just left of center but the bad guys were still dying so he didn't think too much about it. And then he wasn't and they weren't and then he didn't remember anything else. 

*&*

The team gathered while the SHIELD agents gathered and left with those they managed to capture alive. 

When Hulk dropped one more live prisoner at Coulson's feet he looked at his teammates. "Cupid miss. Cupid sick." 

"What?" Coulson questioned his agent persona slipping as he expressed concern for his friend. 

"What the hell?" Tony exclaimed at the same time as Coulson. "Clint never misses." 

Both men turned to Hulk to see if their green friend could tell them, anymore, only to find that he had lain down and was in the process of de-Hulking.

"Find Barton," Coulson ordered as Tony was powering up the thrusters in the suit and Thor already had the hammer spinning.

*&*

Clint woke and looking up he saw the mural painted on the ceiling and realized he was in Stark medical. "How?" He questioned, thinking out loud, having no idea what happened or how he ended up there.

"Of all the stupid fool things to pull. You should have never been up there as sick as you were. What were you thinking?"

Clint sighed and looked over to see Coulson standing by the window looking tired and seriously pissed. "In my defense, Sir, I didn't know I was so sick until I missed my mark."

"And you couldn't tell you had a 103 degree temperature?"

"Honestly. No I couldn't."

"You should have had the chills and been light headed."

"With all due respect, Sir, you've sent me out when I've had the flu, telling me to buck up and not miss my mark. Why all the concern now?" Clint asked, then changed his mind and held up his hand. "Never mind, I don't want to hear it, just leave me alone." He turned his head away and closed his eyes willing the room to stop spinning. 

"Am I interrupting?" Bruce asked walking into the tail end of their argument.

"Talk some sense into him," Phil said as he walked out.

"Come to ream me out too?" Clint asked sarcastically.

"Not unless you want me to," Bruce said quietly as he grabbed Clint's chart and read it.

"Not really," Clint said, "I had enough of that from him," he added with a wave of his hand to indicate Coulson.

"You know you scared the hell out of him when "the other guy" told him you were sick," Bruce pointed out.

"Hulk told him I was sick?" Clint asked and then followed up with another question. "Why would he be scared I was sick? It's not like I haven't been sick before."

"You really don't get it do you," Bruce commented as he sat down on the side of Clint's bed.

"Get what?" Clint asked not knowing what Bruce was talking about.

He watched as Bruce shook his head and sighed. "You have walking pneumonia and an inner ear infection. You could have fallen off any number of buildings you were on. How do you think it would make any of us feel if something happened to you? How do you think it would make him feel something had happened to you?"

Clint didn't know what to say to Bruce's outpouring.

"Thank about what I said and talk to Coulson," Bruce said as he patted Clint's leg before getting up and leaving.

When Bruce left, Clint leaned back on his pillows and thought about everything Bruce had told him. The next time Coulson came back they were going to have to have a long talk, Clint had the feeling he'd been missing more than a few marks.


End file.
